David Paterson

David Alexander Paterson (20 May 1954-) was Governor of New York (D) from 17 March 2008 to 31 December 2010, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and preceding Andrew Cuomo; he previously served as Lieutenant Governor from 1 January 2007 to 17 March 2008, succeeding Mary Donohue and preceding Joseph Bruno.

Biography
David Alexander Paterson was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York on 20 May 1954, the son of New York politician Basil Paterson, and he graduated from Columbia and Hofstra Universities. He worked in the district attorney's office of Queens County, and on the staff of Manhattan borough president David Dinkins. In 1985, he was elected to the State Senate, and he was selected as Eliot Spitzer's running mate during the 2007 gubernatorial election. Paterson served as Lieutenant Governor under Governor Spitzer, and he succeeded Spitzer after Spitzer's resignation over a prostitution scandal. Paterson served the rest of Spitzer's term before leaving office.